Some final tips on investigative reporting :

Tread carefully when writing an expose

Gaston de Rosayro

Using a graph in a story

Investigative reporters must tread warily as we discussed in the two previous columns. You will have to take special care virtually walking on eggshells. This is because investigative stories usually make someone appear either bad or stupid, accusations which can lead to legal action against you for defamation.

You will probably be safe if your story is true and in the public interest. But it can lose the protection of the law if there are serious errors. It would be safer still if you have irrefutable proof, which most editors and legal advisers would insist on before publication.

Someone - probably the people your story exposes as corrupt, dishonest or simply incompetent - will be looking closely for mistakes to attack you. So do not fool around and weigh every word you write. (We will deal with the subject of defamation at a later date.)

Writing stories based on investigative journalism require all the skills you need for general journalism. However, given the risks you will face in investigative journalism, a few of the core rules are worth stressing again.

Writing short sentences

An alleged crime scene

You will be much safer if you stick to facts which you can prove are true. That is why you check your facts and get confirmation for each one. As you write, stop at each new important fact and ask yourself: "Is this true?" Then ask yourself again: Have I confirmed it with another reliable source?"

Do not speculate by writing things which might be true, but which you cannot prove. If you do not have all the facts you would like, you may have to be satisfied with a lesser story, as long as it makes sense and contains no errors.

Do not include your personal opinions. You may be writing a story about someone who has cheated people out of their life savings. You may detest the man but you cannot say detestable things about him. You know for sure he is a charlatan. But you should not publicly proclaim it either. If you imply in your story that you hate this man, that could be construed as malice, which will certainly destroy your defence against defamation.

Just give your readers and listeners the facts. If the man is villain, the facts will lead your audience to that conclusion without you telling them what to think.

Keep your sentences short and your language simple and concise. Some investigations will reveal some very complicated facts, perhaps because the persons under suspicion have tried very cleverly to hide their transgression. You must simplify your facts for your readers or listeners, so they get a clear picture of what has happened.

Wherever possible, avoid using vague words, such as “a large amount” or “some time later”. Such words will reveal that you do not have accurate details – or else you would have used them. Sometimes this is unavoidable, but vague words will usually take the strength out of a story.

You should check your work at each stage and when you have finished, double check everything again.

Ask yourself again: "Are these facts correct and confirmed?" If you have sufficient time, put the story aside for a few hours. Then return to it with a fresh mindset, seeing it as a reader or listener might.

Ask a colleague to read the story and try to find any discrepancies. Do not be upset if they point out errors or big gaps in information. It is better to be told now by a colleague than later be harangued by an opposing lawyer in a defamation case.

Wherever possible, show the story to your organisation's legal adviser.

One final check worth making is to ask yourself is whether your sources are protected. Make certain you have not identified your confidential sources even unwittingly. Also read the story as if you are the individual who has been accused of incompetence or corruption. See if they could connect or be able to identify any of your confidential sources from what you have written. If there is any risk at all, change the story to protect your sources.

You can use any illustrations to make your story more interesting? Perhaps you can use pictures of the victims looking sad, or someone at the scene of an alleged crime.

In a story about how a government department has been wasting taxpayers' money, you might use a graph to show how the money has disappeared over the years.

Using a relevant section of a document to support the story

For instance, if you have a really important document to support your story, include the relevant sections of that document as an illustration.

On television, you can type quotations from the document to run across the screen as the story is being read out.

However carefully you write your story to make it safe, a sub-editor may not understand exactly why you use certain words or describe something in a certain way.

The sub-editor may write a headline which is wrong or possible defamatory.

Having spent a lot of time working on the story, do not abandon it at this final stage. Discuss possible headlines with the sub-editor, until both of you are satisfied you have done the best job possible.

As we have said several times in this series there are many dangers to investigative reporting. The greatest danger is that you will do or write something which will allow the person under suspicion to take you to court for defamation or on some other charge. So remember the following:

It may happen that a story you are investigating is also being dealt with by a court. In most countries, a matter before a court is said to be sub judice and there are limits on what can be reported about it, beyond what is said in the court.

Be very careful when covering any sub judice matters. Consult your editor or lawyer for advice. If you make the wrong decision, you could be charged with contempt of court.

If someone complains about a mistake after the story is published or broadcast, never issue an immediate apology or correction without talking first to your editor and lawyer. They will decide what action to take.

Sometimes people will ask to be paid for their information. Try to avoid this, but sometimes it is necessary, even if it is a few bucks for a tip-off. However, never pay sources for information which might have involved criminal activity.

For example, if someone asks for Rs.10,000 to provide a document and then steal it, you too could be charged as an accomplice to theft.

Any such payment could be viewed as encouraging a crime.

Become familiar with all the different places you can get information from, such as company registers and court records. As well as accumulating information, you must also gather supporting evidence in case your story is challenged.

You may live in a country where the media are controlled and the government will not allow any real investigative reporting. You and your editor must decide whether or not you should take the risk of carrying out investigative reporting which the government will not like, and may punish you for. But journalists throughout the world have often had to make such decisions. Some have paid the price with imprisonment or death. You must decide in each case whether the issue is worth the risk.

[email protected]